Syria/Daesh/Russia/military action by Russia – Joint statement by France, Germany, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, the United Kingdom and the United States of America¹

Paris, 2 October 2015

We, the governments of France, Germany, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, United Kingdom and United States of America state the following in view of the recent military actions of the Russian Federation in Syria:

We express our deep concern with regard to the Russian military build-up in Syria and especially ‎the attacks by the Russian Air Force on Hama, Homs and Idlib which led to civilian casualties and did not target Daesh [ISIL]. ‎

These military actions constitute a further escalation and will only fuel more extremism and radicalization.

We call on the Russian Federation to immediately cease its attacks on the Syrian opposition and civilians and to focus its efforts on fighting ISIL./.